Kroger announced the sale of 413 stores, including 26 in Texas and two in Louisiana, as part of its plan to buy Albertsons Co. for $24.6 billion.
Kroger said Friday that the merger with Albertsons, which has been pending since October, is on track to be completed in early 2024. C&S will pay Kroger $1.9 billion in cash after federal regulators approve the deal.
None of the stores sold in Texas include Kroger stores, said Kroger spokesman John Votava. All 26 locations are from Albertsons, which operates its namesake stores at the Tom Thumb and Market Street locations in Dallas-Fort Worth.
The list of stores being sold is not yet available.
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“Because we are still in the regulatory process, we are not able to share the specific locations included in the agreement,” Votava said.
Before closing, Kroger may be required by the Federal Trade Commission to sell up to 237 more stores in certain areas. If additional stores are added to the transaction, C&S has agreed to purchase the additional stores.
The sale to C&S Wholesale Grocers also includes eight distribution centers, two offices and five private label brands in 17 states and Washington, DC.
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Those additional assets and infrastructure are a recognition by Kroger that if it is going to get antitrust approval, its divestitures will have to address the weaknesses of Safeway’s 2015 acquisition by Albertsons, which sold stores to weaker operators and resulted in store closures. Have become.
C&S was founded in 1918 as a supplier to independent grocery stores and now supplies more than 100,000 different products to more than 7,500 independent supermarkets, chain stores, military bases and institutions. While C&S is a large wholesale supplier, it only operates 160 stores and most are Piggly Wiggly stores in Wisconsin. It also operates Grand Union stores in New York and Vermont.
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C&S has agreed to honor all collective bargaining agreements, protect union jobs, and protect workers’ health care and pension benefits as well as bargained wages.
“We are confident that C&S’s experienced, purpose-driven leadership team and more than 100 years of food industry experience will drive growth in the competitive marketplace,” Votava said.
These stores will not be sold until Kroger’s purchase of Albertsons is completed. Here are the disinvestments by state, number of stores and from which companies:
Texas 26 Albertsons Cos.
Louisiana 2 Albertsons Cos.
Washington 104 Albertsons Company and Kroger
California 66 Albertsons Company and Kroger
Colorado 52 Albertsons Cos.
Oregon 49 Albertsons Company and Kroger stores
Arizona 24 Albertsons Cos.
Nevada 15 Albertsons Cos.
Illinois 14 Kroger
Alaska 14 Albertsons Cos.
IDAHO 13 ALBERTSON COS.
New Mexico 12 Albertsons Cos.
Montana, Utah and Wyoming 12 Albertsons Cos.
Washington, DC, Maryland and Virginia 10 Harris Teeter stores
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